Mini-cart delete icon plus fixes: +22.89% orders from mini-cart users
Test run byOptimizelyTesting and CRO tool
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a delete icon and other enhancements to the mini-cart lifted submitted orders by 22.89% among visitors who used it.
Optimizely ran this test for an online retailer and published it as an Optimizely Field Notes use case.
The winner bundled several changes, and a version with only the delete icon did not win.
- +7.89% checkout clicks from the mini-cart in variation 1.
- +22.89% submitted orders among mini-cart users in variation 1.
- Variation 2, the delete icon alone, did not win. The extra enhancements likely did the heavy lifting.
- Lifts are measured only on visitors who engaged with the mini-cart, not all traffic.
The change
The variant adds a delete icon plus other mini-cart improvements.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A mini-cart flyout that listed items but gave no way to remove them.
Variant
Variation 1 added a delete icon plus other mini-cart enhancements. Variation 2 added only the delete icon.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Letting shoppers fix their cart in place saves a trip to the full cart page.
- The other enhancements likely made the mini-cart clearer and easier to act on.
- A delete option alone may not change much if the rest of the flyout is still hard to use.
Caveats: Bundled changes, and the delete icon alone did not win, so don't credit the result to it. Lifts are for mini-cart users only, and no sample size, duration or confidence level was shared.
Who ran it
Optimizely ran this test for an online retailer (Optimizely customer) and published the results (Optimizely Field Notes use case). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Optimizely →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we let shoppers edit their cart inside the mini-cart and make it easier to use, then more of them will check out because they can fix their order without leaving the page.
- Primary metric
- Submitted orders per visitor
- Guardrails
- Mini-cart checkout clicks
- Average order value
- Items removed per cart
- Who should test it
- Stores where many shoppers use a flyout or drawer cart. Test the full set of usability fixes together, as a single delete icon may not be enough on its own.
Questions
Should a mini-cart let shoppers remove items?
It is a reasonable usability fix, but in this test the delete icon alone did not win.
It worked as part of a wider set of improvements.
Does a mini-cart help conversions?
It can, when it makes checking out quick and editing easy.
Measure orders, not just clicks on the checkout button.
Why measure only mini-cart users?
It isolates the people the change could affect.
But it means the sitewide lift will be smaller than the headline number.
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